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February 23, 2021 18:51
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Hi there, | |
My name is Maciej, I run the bookmarking site Pinboard, and I’m writing to ask | |
for your help. | |
You joined the site back when there was a one-time signup fee. Back then, | |
charging for bookmarking online was unheard of, and the fee was more of an | |
anti-spam measure than a revenue model. | |
In 2015, I changed Pinboard over to a subscription site, where even “basic” | |
users (who don’t use the archiving feature) have to pay an annual fee. But I | |
did not make this change retroactive, since that felt like going back on a | |
promise. | |
Today I’m asking you to voluntarily change the way you use the site by going to | |
https://pinboard.in/convert and converting your account to a ‘modern’ one, the | |
kind you have to pay for every year. | |
Let me explain why: | |
First, it will allow me to do more active development on the site. As a solo | |
developer, this has become difficult as the site gets bigger and older. I not | |
only run and maintain all the code, but I also install and fix the physical | |
hardware, keep up with the various patches and breaking changes at every level, | |
run and test backups, and try to keep up with big changes in the way the web | |
works (like the huge move to javascript, which is hard to archive). | |
I would describe my work like single-handedly running a restaurant in an old | |
château. It’s cool and fun, and the ambiance is great, but occasionally the | |
soup is served cold or not at all because I have to chase a bunch of bats out | |
of the kitchen, or replace a collapsed beam, while the diners sit and wait. | |
This is no fun for either me or the diners, who rightfully complain that it | |
ruins their dinner. | |
Having more paying users would let me hire some dedicated carpenters and and | |
bat-chasers that would let me focus on the cooking. | |
Second, it’s become rather hard to have two populations of users, one of whom | |
pays annually for a service that the other gets for free. Right now, about 2/3 | |
of Pinboard users with basic accounts are people who signed up, like you did, | |
in 2009 or 2010 with a one-time payment. The remaining 1/3 pays $22 a year. I | |
have noticed this has created some feelings of annoyance in the paying group, | |
odd expectations in the one-time group, and a general confusion about pricing | |
policy. | |
Third, there are a bunch of new features I want to get out, like Substack | |
integration, better tag editing, PDF uploads, an improved crawler (that is not | |
stymied by javascript-heavy sites) and above all a brand new API. Even if you | |
don’t care about any of these features, some of them (like the API redesign) | |
will make the site much faster for everyone. But to do that, I need to hire | |
some help, since the site is too big for one person to maintain and do feature | |
development for at the same time. | |
I even have a person in mind—a great Romanian guy who interned with me in 2013, | |
and is a longtime fan of the site. He’s capable, effective, and I would love to | |
work with him again. And as a way of thanking you, converted users will get | |
access to these features first. | |
Since this is Pinboard, you are also welcome to ignore all of the new stuff and | |
just use it the way it has always been. | |
So my pitch is this: if you are getting more than $1.80/month of value from | |
using Pinboard (which is what the site costs these days), I ask you to convert | |
to a regular account as a token of your support. | |
Tradtionally, a company in my position would take outside investment, or bring | |
in a VC with a big story about growth, or pivot to a new market. But I much | |
prefer for it to the site to remain independent, ornery, and self-sufficient. I | |
take my work seriously and want the site to be around for the rest of my | |
professional life. | |
If you can help me do that by putting things on a firmer financial basis, then | |
I’ll be grateful to you! And I promise you will see the benefits.You’ll even | |
get emoji flair (optional) to go next to your username. It’s a win/win/win/win | |
proposition. | |
That URL again is: https://pinboard.in/convert | |
Let me know if you have questions, or comments, or find this request deeply | |
offensive, or deeply inoffensive, or anywhere in between. Right now I’m | |
reaching out to just the oldest of old users, and would be grateful to hear | |
your thoughts. | |
Kind wishes, | |
Maciej Ceglowski | |
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